Washing machine agitator drive mechanism



May 28,1940. I I c. H. LOGUE WASHING MACHINE AGITATOR DRIVE MECHANISM 2 S heetsSheet 1 Filed Jan. 19, 1939 INVEHTDR EMIE'LESHLUEUE L a l/g 2" RN EY May'ZS, 1940. v c. LOQGUE I 0 WASHING MACHINE AGITATOR DRIVE MECHANISM Filed Jan. 19, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN'TDR CHARLES H, Luau;

TT DRNEY Patented May UNITED STATES,

' WASHING MACHINE AGITATOR. DRIVE MECHANISM Charles H. Logue, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Easy Washing Machine Corporation, Syracuse.

N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 19, 1939, Serial No. 251.771

2 Claims.

In washing clothes in a machine of the upstanding oscillating agitator type, it is often tiesira-ble to vary the amount of agitation to suit the fabrics being washed. There are certain very 5 delicate fabrics and garments which should be handled much more gently than, for example, working men's clothing.

One object of my invention is to provide a simple agitator drive mechanism by which the amplitude of oscillation of the agitator may be changed within prescribed limits-to suit the fabric being washed. v

Another object of my invention is to provide a. simple agitatorydrive mechanism by which the amplitude of oscillation of the agitator may be reduced to zero,. thus eliminating an'agitator drive clutch. i

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of a washing machine of the upstanding oscillatable agitator type, parts being broken away, to disclose the partial center line section.

Figure 2 is a plan view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, 'of the agitator drive mechanism, parts being broken away. ,1

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33, Figure 2.

[Figure 4 is a plan view of the control handle and associated parts.

Figure 5. is an elevation of the washing machine skirt taken on the line 5-5, Figure 4, parts being broken away.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 6 is,

turn is supported in the gear case 8. A pin it is mounted eccentrically on worm gear l3. A connecting rod I5 has one end rotatably mounted on pin it and the other end connected to a slotted bar ll adjacent one endthereof by means 5 of a wrist pin IS. The slotted bar I! herein shown in-the preferred form, is arcuate in shape in.-plan although the bar may be asimple straight bar. One end of bar I! is formed into an E section taken on the line 33, as shown in Figure 3, l0

Stub shafts l9l9 may be formed from, the parts l8|8 or mounted in 'holes drilled therein. Stub shafts l9-I9 are journaled in suitable bearin'gs 20-20 in the gear case 8. Slotted'bar I1 15 .isthus free to oscillate horizontally about the drilled to accommodate bearing pin 24. Rack bar 2| is slidably mounted in a guide piece 28 25 which is constructed and arranged 'so as to permit rotation about shaft 1 as a center and holds the rack teeth 22 of rack bar 2| in mesh with the pinion 9. The upper portion of piece 26 is formed into an annular sleeve 21 of sufllcient length to project through and above gear case 8. The upper portion of the sleeve 21' is formed into a square shoulder 28. I

The control handle 29 has the inner end formed into a circular boss 30 which has a square 3 hole 3| adapted to receive the square shoulder 28.

the tub of an ordinary washing machine, 5 is 9. \The control handle 29 is made'sumciently long to skirt for concealing the drive mechanism, and l is an'upstanding oscillatable agitator'supported on drive shaft 1' in a manner well knownto the art. Drive shaft 1 extends into the gear case 8 where-it is suitably journaled in a bearing (not shown). The gear case 8 is secured to the frame of the washing machine in any suitable manner such as bolts or rivets.

A pinion 9 is secured adjacent the lower end of shaft 1 or may be formed integrally therewith. The variable drive mechanism comprises a shaft I0 which carries the worm l l said shaft to being suitably journa-led in the gear case 8, as shown at l2 and ,I2'. Shaft III is adapted to be rotated by an electric motor (not shown) or other suitable source of power.

A worm gear I3 is meshed with worm I I and is mounted on a. stub shaft (not shown) which in is mounted on the inside of the skirt 6' adjacent the lower edge of slot 33. The piece 35 carries a project through a slot 33 in the skirt 6'. A piece 35 of substantially greater length than the slot 33 plurality of notches 26 in its upper side, said notches being adapted to'catch and hold the control handle 29 in any one of a. plurality of operating positions The control handle 29 is formed preferably of relatively thin flat stock to permit springing the handle out of a retaining notch when moving from one control position to another. I

Operation Y Movement of the control handle rotates the guide 'piece 26 about the shaft I as a center, thus changing the angularity of the rack bar- 2| with respect to the centers I! of the slotted bar 55 I! and moving the slide block 25 to a selected position in the slot of the slotted bar. For example, when the control handle 29 is in the position designated as 6 in Figure 5, the slide block 25 will be at the extreme outer position in the slotted bar ll. Moving the control handle to the zero position shown in Figure 5 which is the dotted position in Figures 2 and 4, will rotate the guide piece 26 so as to bring the rack bar 2i and the slide block 25 in line with the centers it of slotted bar i'l.

When shaft it is rotated, worm it drives worm gear it. Rotation of the worm gear 98 moves the crank pin it so as to reciprocate the connecting rod l5. I'his reciprocating movement of the connecting rod it rocks the slotted bar ill about the centers it with constant amplitude of oscillation. When the slide block 25 is in the outer position shown in full lines in Figure 2, the raclt bar 2i will be given a maximum reciprocatory movement which is transmitted through the pinion 9 to give an oscillation of maximum amplitude to the agitator i. If the control handle 29 is shifted so as to change the angularity of the guide piece 26 with respect to the centers 89 of the slotted bar H, the slide block 25 will be moved nearer the centers 59, with the result that although the amplitude of oscillation of the slotted bar ll remains unchanged the amplitude of the reciprocatory motion of rack bar 2| will be decreased.

When the control handle is moved to the zero position, the guide piece 26 is rotated so as to bring the slide block 25 directly between the centers i9-l9, with the result that no motion is transmitted to the rack bar 2| and, consequently, no oscillation is transmitted to the agitator l.

Thusrit will be seen that by shifting the position of the control handle 29, changing the angularity of the guide piece 26 with reference to the centers IQ of the slotted bar ll, changes the position of the slide block 25 along the slotted bar H, permitting a variation in the amplitude of oscillation of the agitator from zero amplitude to amaximum which is governed by the proportions of the mechanism. Also, since the mechanism is so constructed as to permit an adjustment which reduces the oscillation of the agitator to zero with the motor running, an agitator drive clutch can be eliminated.

Although I have shown and described a speciflc embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to.be limited to the details thereof as various modifications may .occur to a person skilled in the art. I therefore desire to be limited only by the state of the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a variable drive mechanism for use in a washing machine having an oscillatable element for agitating the clothes to be washed, a pinion gear fastened to said oscillatable element for driving the same, a reciprocating drive bar, rack teeth carried by said drive bar and adapted to mesh with said pinion, an oscillating lever pivoted adjacent one end thereof, means for oscillating said lever over a path of substantially constant amplitude, said drive bar being pivottrol lever fixedly secured to said guide member. for

manually rotating said guide member whereby the pivotalconnection between said drive bar and said oscillating lever is moved and motion transmitted to said oscillatable element is varied.

2. A device as described in claim 1 having in' addition means for releasably retaining said control lever in a selected position.

CHARLES H. LOGUE. 

